Solar and Smart Meter Update - EWOV · 9 Energy and Water Ombudsman (Victoria) Ltd ABN 57 070 516...

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Solar and Smart Meter Update 1 October 2013 to 31 December 2013 Released January 2014

Transcript of Solar and Smart Meter Update - EWOV · 9 Energy and Water Ombudsman (Victoria) Ltd ABN 57 070 516...

Page 1: Solar and Smart Meter Update - EWOV · 9 Energy and Water Ombudsman (Victoria) Ltd ABN 57 070 516 175 EWOV Solar and Smart Meter Update - 1 October 2013 to 31 December 2013 2.5. Smart

Solar and Smart Meter

Update

1 October 2013 to 31 December 2013

Released January 2014

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EWOV Solar and Smart Meter Update - 1 October 2013 to 31 December 2013

CONTENTS

1. Solar and Smart Meter Cases ............................................................................... 3 1.1. Smart Meter Cases ................................................................................................................... 4 1.2. Solar Cases................................................................................................................................ 4

2. SMART METER UPDATE ....................................................................................... 6

2.1. EWOV Smart Meter Cases Increase by 34% ............................................................................. 6 2.2. Monthly Trends ........................................................................................................................ 6 2.3. Case Registration Snapshot ...................................................................................................... 7 2.4. Top 10 Smart Meter Case Issues .............................................................................................. 7 2.5. Smart Meter Case Study........................................................................................................... 9

3. SOLAR UPDATE .................................................................................................. 10

3.1. EWOV Solar Cases Drop by 20% ............................................................................................. 10 3.2. Monthly Trends ...................................................................................................................... 10 3.3. Case Registration Snapshot .................................................................................................... 11 3.4. Top 10 Solar Issues ................................................................................................................. 11 3.5. Solar Case Study ..................................................................................................................... 13

APPENDIX - GRAPHS AND TABLES ............................................................................. 14

Graph 1: Monthly Trends - Smart Meter Cases ............................................................................. 14 Graph 2: Monthly Trends - Solar Cases .......................................................................................... 14 Table 1: Case Registration Snapshot - Smart Meter Cases ............................................................ 15 Table 2: Case Registration Snapshot - Solar Cases......................................................................... 16

PUTTING THIS REPORT IN CONTEXT .......................................................................... 17

GLOSSARY ................................................................................................................ 18

This report provides stakeholders with an analysis of the Energy and Water Ombudsman (Victoria)

(EWOV)'s solar and Advanced Meter (Smart Meter) complaint data, including case issues, case studies and outcomes.

This report is uploaded onto EWOV's website.

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EWOV Solar and Smart Meter Update - 1 October 2013 to 31 December 2013

This report details the solar and Smart Meter complaint issues presented by Victorian

energy customers to the Energy and Water Ombudsman (Victoria) (EWOV) for the period of

1 October 2013 to 31 December 2013.

1. Solar and Smart Meter Cases

The graph below indicates the number of solar and Smart Meter-related cases EWOV

received during the period of 1 October 2012 to 31 December 2013.

The graph on page five provides a three-year overview of the solar and Smart Meter case

trends against a timeline of the significant changes that have occurred in the energy

industry in Victoria over this period, including:

three Feed-in Tariff (FiT) schemes closing

Smart Meter Cases

Solar Cases 0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

3,000

3,500

Oct to Dec 2012

Jan to Mar 2013 April to June

2013 Jul to Sep

2013 Oct to Dec 2013

1,601

1,374 1,206 1,246

1,667

2,807 2,918 3,239

2,669

2,144

EWOV Solar and Smart Meter Cases Received By Quarter

1 October 2012 to 31 December 2013

Smart Meter Cases Solar Cases

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the Victorian Government completing a review of the Advanced Metering

Infrastructure (AMI) rollout and confirming it would continue

flexible pricing commencing

the Victorian Government considering options to manage ongoing consumer refusal

to have a Smart Meter installed.

It is interesting to note the impact that the above changes have had on EWOV case

handling, which is explained in further detail below.

1.1. Smart Meter Cases

EWOV continues to receive a significant amount of Smart Meter cases. Case levels again

peaked in the October to December 2013 quarter, with this recent amount of cases

comparative to the large number received in the October to December 2012 quarter.

During the October 2012 to December 2012 quarter, EWOV received a significant number of

calls from customers - following the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) December

2012 meeting - querying whether the Victorian rollout was still mandatory. COAG had at

the time decided to introduce a non-compulsory national rollout of Smart Meters, however,

this decision did not impact the Victorian Government's policy for a mandatory rollout of

Smart Meters across Victoria. Similarly, media coverage in December 2013 may have also

contributed to an increase in Smart Meter cases in the current quarter. The Victorian Energy

Minister's recent announcement that consumers may be charged a fee instead of having

their electricity supply disconnected for not having a Smart Meter installed, has received

significant coverage.

1.2. Solar Cases

EWOV continued to receive large numbers of solar complaints in the current reporting

period about retailers not applying, or incorrectly applying, FiTs to customers’ accounts.

However, this number has significantly dropped compared to the same periods (October to

December) in 2011 and 2012. Following the announcement in September 2011, that the

Premium Feed-in Tariff (PFiT) scheme would close to new applicants, complaint numbers to

EWOV escalated. Similarly, following the announcement that the Transitional Feed-in Tariff

(TFiT) and the Standard Feed-in Tariff (SFiT) would close by the end of 2012, EWOV received

an increase in solar cases from customers concerned about missing out on the scheme prior

to closure. However, the closure of PFiT continues to impact current case receipt and was

still found to be the most common solar issue in the October to December 2013 quarter.

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2. SMART METER UPDATE

2.1. EWOV Smart Meter Cases Increase by 34%

During this reporting period, EWOV received a 34% increase in Smart Meter cases compared

to the previous quarter (1 July 2013 to 30 September 2013), with 1,667 cases received in

total. This was a similar number compared to the October to December 2012 quarter (1,601

cases).

Descriptions of case levels: Enquiry, Referral, Real Time Resolution and Investigation are available in the

glossary on page 18.

2.2. Monthly Trends

During this reporting period, EWOV received 1,667 Smart Meter cases - the majority of

these cases were resolved as Referrals1 and were registered against electricity retailers

1 76% of Smart Meter cases received between 1 October 2013 and 31 December 2013 were handled as

Referrals, with 61% handled as Assisted Referrals and a further 15% handled as Unassisted Referrals. Descriptions of Assisted and Unassisted Referrals are available in the glossary on page 18.

0

200

400

600

800

1,000

1,200

1,400

1,600

1,800

Oct to Dec 2012 Jan to Mar

2013 April to June 2013 Jul to Sep

2013 Oct to Dec 2013

54 26

42 47

32

1,212

1,038 910

911 1,259

127

115

104 106

151

208

195

150 182

225

EWOV Smart Meter Cases Received By Quarter 1 October 2012 to 31 December 2013

Enquiry Referral RTR Investigation

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(77%). A further 22% were registered against electricity distributors2. Appendix: Graph 1 on

page 14 shows Smart Meter cases received by month and case type.

2.3. Case Registration Snapshot

Notably, the highest number of Smart Meter cases continues to involve Retailer 14

customers in the Distributor 4 distribution area (348 cases). This was followed by Retailer

16 customers who resided in the Distributor 3 distribution area (143 cases). Table one in the

appendix on page 15 shows the case numbers registered against each retailer categorised by

individual distribution areas.

2.4. Top 10 Smart Meter Case Issues

Of the 1,667 Smart Meter cases received in this reporting period, 2,458 issues were

registered3. The majority of these issues were about billing (62%), with 21% of cases

specifically relating to high bills4 and a further 9% of cases were about the installation of a

Smart Meter. Of the 527 cases where a customer raised concerns about a high bill5, 10%

were investigated by EWOV and revealed that:

in many cases, billing was based on actual meter reads and often showed fluctuation in accordance with seasonal patterns

the majority of meters tested were found to be operating correctly and within Australian Standards

some billing had been based on estimated meter reads, and required re-billing based on actual meter reads.

During the current reporting period, EWOV also received 28 cases about flexible pricing

issues. The majority of these complaints were resolved as Referrals (75%) and were

registered against electricity retailers (86%). Customers who contacted EWOV about flexible

pricing advised that they were:

experiencing difficulties obtaining either their interval consumption data to use My Power Planner6 or information about the electricity retailer's flexible pricing offers

2 A further 1% of all Smart Meter cases were not allocated against an EWOV scheme participant.

3 A case can have more than one issue.

4 This issue may not be directly attributed to the Smart Meter being installed or not functioning correctly.

5 EWOV's high bill investigation is a process of elimination to determine whether the provider’s assets have

caused the high bill. This process ensures customers have been billed accurately with the meter correctly recording usage. 6 http://www.switchon.vic.gov.au/tools-and-calculators/my-power-planner

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dissatisfied that a Smart Meter was either not installed or had not been reconfigured so that a flexible pricing offer was available to them

seeking to revert to a flat tariff as they felt flexible pricing was not advantageous based on their consumption.

EWOV is continuing to monitor case receipt of customer concerns involving flexible pricing.

EWOV also received 71 cases during the current reporting period where customers

complained about meter readings. Of these cases, 44% related to customer concerns about:

inconsistencies between reads on their Smart Meter and the billing

incorrect or no meter reads taken at the time the Smart Meter was installed

no start or end reads on billing

a read of zero on bills

obtaining reads so that data could be issued and flexible pricing investigated7.

7

67% of these cases were registered as Referrals (Unassisted or Assisted). EWOV did not investigate any of these matters and is limited to hearing only the customer’s ‘side of the story’.

0 100 200 300 400 500 600

Provision > Existing Connection > Supply Upgrade > Other

Billing > Meter > Reading

Billing > Backbill > Other

Billing > Delay

Billing > Error > Other

Credit > Disconnection / Restriction > Arrears > Imminent

Billing > Estimation > High

Billing > Tariff > Loss of Off Peak Rates

Provision > Existing Connection > Meter Exchange

Billing > High > General

62

71

78

78

84

98

115

133

231

527

Top 10 Smart Meter Issues 1 October 2013 to 31 December 2013

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2.5. Smart Meter Case Study

The case study below demonstrates a customer's concern with a high and potentially

erroneous billing of a Smart Meter8.

A customer’s story

8 The Smart Meter case study (2013/10688) in the previous Update, should have advised that the retailer could

not place start and end reads on bills because they were not received by the distributor and not because the property had a Smart Meter.

Customer’s statement

The customer was dissatisfied with Retailer 14 regarding high electricity bills that she believed were the result of erroneous billing. Since the installation of her Smart Meter, the price per Kilowatt Hour (kWh) on her bill had increased. She had contacted Retailer 14 about this and was advised that the meter may be faulty. The customer made numerous attempts to resolve the matter directly with Retailer 14 and had also contacted her electricity distributor, Distributor 4, to inspect the meter, but remained dissatisfied that the matter was not resolved. As a result, she contacted EWOV and an Assisted Referral was raised. However, Retailer 14 did not respond to the customer in the required timeframe, so EWOV escalated the matter to an Investigation. Investigation EWOV requested copies of the customer’s bills and upon review noticed that start and end meter reads were missing on one bill and there was a small discrepancy with the meter reads on another bill. EWOV also completed a system search to determine when the Smart Meter was installed at the customer’s property. This search indicated the meter was exchanged to a Smart Meter on 22 June 2012, and that a further change or adjustment was made to the meter on 17 January 2013. Retailer 14 confirmed this installation date, but advised it was configured as a basic meter until 17 January 2013. On this date, as part of the Smart Meter rollout, it was reconfigured to operate as a manually read interval meter. Retailer 14 provided a copy of all meter reads and EWOV confirmed that they were actual meter reads, not estimates, and that the reads matched the bills issued to the customer. Retailer 14 advised that price increases occurred on 1 July 2012 and 1 January 2013. Bills affected by these price increases were broken into relevant time periods to ensure correct rates were applied. EWOV reviewed bills for the affected periods and confirmed they had been issued correctly. A meter test was also conducted on 13 May 2013, which found the meter was functioning within Australian Standards.

Outcome Retailer 14 apologised for the customer service issues and applied a $100.00 credit to the customer’s account in recognition. It also advised it would not apply any termination fees if the customer decided to transfer to a different retailer. Retailer 14 confirmed the account balance with all payments and credits applied was $767.81 and it offered a three-month extension for payment of the arrears. The customer was satisfied with EWOV’s investigation, the credit and payment extension, and the case was closed.

2013/42946: Retailer: Retailer 14. Distributor: Distributor 4 Opened as Assisted Referral: 26 July 2013 Re-opened as Investigation: 13 August 2013 Closed: 15 October 2013 Issue: Customer dissatisfied with high and erroneous billing since installation of Smart Meter

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3. SOLAR UPDATE

3.1. EWOV Solar Cases drop by 20%

EWOV received 2,144 solar cases during the reporting period from 1 October 2013 to 31

December 2013. This is a 20% drop in case receipt when compared to the previous quarter

(1 July 2013 to 30 September 2013). This is also a 13% decrease in cases recorded in the

same period in 2012 (1 October 2012 to 31 December 2012).

Descriptions of case levels: Enquiry, Referral, Real Time Resolution and Investigation are in the glossary on

page 18.

3.2. Monthly Trends

From 1 October 2013 to 31 December 2013, EWOV received 2,144 solar cases and

registered 3,087 solar case issues9. 39% of these cases were received in October 2013, with

a further 33% in November 2013 and 28% in December 2013. The majority of these cases

were registered as Referrals (67%)10 and 16% required investigation by EWOV. Table two in

the appendix on page 14 shows solar meter cases received by month and case type.

9 Please note that a case can have more than one issue.

10 58% handled as Assisted Referrals and a further 10% handled as Unassisted Referrals. Descriptions of

Assisted and Unassisted Referrals are available in the glossary on page 18.

0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

3,000

3,500

Oct to Dec 2012

Jan to Mar 2013 April to June

2013 Jul to Sep

2013 Oct to Dec 2013

127 106

144 124

129

2,033 1,963 2,268

1,838

1,446

262 290

302

268

234

385 559 525

439

335

EWOV Solar Meter Cases Received By Quarter 1 October 2012 to 31 December 2013

Enquiry Referral RTR Investigation

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3.3. Case Registration Snapshot

During this reporting period, 91% of all solar cases were registered against electricity

retailers. Retailer 14 accounted for 31% of all solar cases, however, this represented an 8%

drop in cases compared to the previous quarter (1 July 2013 to 30 September 2013). Cases

regarding electricity distributors accounted for 4% of all solar cases11. During the current

reporting period, 100 cases were found to be out of EWOV's jurisdiction because the

complaint was about a private solar installer. In these instances, customers were referred

to Consumer Affairs Victoria. Table two in the appendix on page 16 shows the case numbers

registered against each retailer categorised by individual distribution areas.

3.4. Top 10 Solar Issues

During the current reporting period, 32% of all solar cases received involved Feed-in Tariff

(FiT) issues. This included the closed Premium Feed-in Tariff (PFiT), Transitional Feed-in

Tariff (TFiT), Standard Feed-in Tariff (SFiT) schemes and the new General Feed-in Tariff

(GFiT)12. The most common solar issue reported to EWOV during this period was about the

PFiT not being applied (306). Billing issues in total accounted for 70% of solar cases with

provision issues accounting for a further 12%.

11

A further 5% of all solar cases were not allocated against a scheme participant. 12

163 of these cases were registered under the FiT issue - No Feed-in Tariff (NoFiT). This means that the customer is unclear about the FiT they want to receive or they have no preference about which FiT is applicable.

96

104

117

126

128

181

181

227

235

306

0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350

Credit > Disconnection / Restriction > Arrears > Imminent

General Enquiry > Energy / Water

Billing > Tariff > General Feed In > Not Applied

Billing > Delay

Billing > Tariff > No Feed In > Not applied

Billing > Tariff > Transitional Feed-in Tariff > Not Applied

Billing > Error > Other

Provision > Existing Connection > Supply Upgrade > Delay

Billing > High > General

Billing > Tariff > Premium Feed In > Not Applied

Top 10 Solar Issues 1 October 2013 to 31 December 2013

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Of these FiT cases:

82% were handled as Referrals, 6% were resolved via EWOV's Real Time Resolution

Process and a further 11% required an Investigation13.

98% of these cases were registered against an electricity retailer, with 64% of all FiT

cases registered against Retailer 14, Retailer 16 and Retailer 12 combined.

81% involved a FiT not being applied, a further 11% involved issues with the amount of

generation applied, 6% related to the contract, and the remaining 2% related to the

FiTs being charged instead of credited.

Customers expressed concern about whether their electricity accounts had been

updated to include a FiT. Many were concerned because they had not received bills

for several billing cycles or because previous bills had FiTs applied but recent billing did

not. In other cases, there were longstanding issues regarding the solar process, which

did not appear to have been completed correctly, resulting in customers missing out

on the FiT they had applied for.

EWOV also received 11 cases about the pre-approval process. These customers were

concerned about the time it took for this process to be completed, and the

distributor's decision to decline approval of the solar system's installation. One

customer contacted EWOV for independent advice about whether the distributor's

pre-approval process was allowable.

13

1% were lodged as Enquiries. 14% of Investigations received during the quarter are not yet resolved.

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3.5. Solar Case Study

The following EWOV case study demonstrates issues that customers sometimes face when

seeking approval of their solar system.

A customer’s story

Customer’s statement The customer was dissatisfied that he could not install the size of a solar photovoltaic (PV) system that he

wanted at his property. He had ordered and partially paid for a solar PV system, which was capable of generating five Kilowatts (kW) of electricity. He contacted Distributor 3 to arrange the installation but it advised he could only have a three kW solar PV system installed. Distributor 3 advised the customer that he would need to upgrade to three-phase metering if he wanted to install the five kW system. The customer was dissatisfied with this information, particularly given one of his neighbours living a few doors down had a five kW system in operation on a single phase meter. As a result, the customer contacted EWOV and an Assisted Referral was raised. However, as Distributor 3 did not respond to the customer within the required timeframe, the customer recontacted EWOV and the matter was escalated to an Investigation.

EWOV's Investigation

Distributor 3 assessed the customer’s application in conjunction with the capacity of the transformer to which his electricity supply was connected. It confirmed that every connection request is assessed on a case-by-case basis and takes into account the property’s supply connection details. The result of this assessment was that the transformer supplying the customer's property was not capable of supporting a new solar PV connection load greater than three kW generating capacity. Consequently, the customer’s request to install a five kW system was rejected.

Outcome Distributor 3 advised the customer could arrange for augmentation works to the transformer supplying his

property to increase its capacity to ensure the continued supply of all connected properties. However, this would be at the customer's cost. EWOV confirmed that this advice was consistent with industry guidelines. The customer accepted that the pre-approval request and process had been completed appropriately by Distributor 3, and the reasons for his unsuccessful application were deemed to be in accordance with its obligations.

2013/53053: Distributor: Distributor 3 Opened as Assisted Referral 2 September 2013 Re-opened as Investigation 13 September 2013 : Closed 22 November 2013 Issue: Distributor does not approve customer's proposed solar system size

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APPENDIX - GRAPHS AND TABLES

Graph 1: Monthly Trends - Smart Meter Cases

Graph 2: Monthly Trends - Solar Cases

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

Oct-13 Nov-13

Dec-13

13 8

11

507

403

349

48

51

52

83

70

72

EWOV Smart Meter Cases by Month 1 October 2013 to 31 December 2013

Enquiry Referral RTR Investigation

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

Oct-13

Nov-13

Dec-13

47 39

43

575

492

379

82

70

82

133

104

98

EWOV Solar Cases by Month 1 October 2013 to 31 December 2013

Enquiry Referral RTR Investigations

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Table 1: Case Registration Snapshot - Smart Meter Cases

Provider

Distribution area

Total Distributor 5

Distributor 1

Distributor 3

Distributor 4

Distributor 2

Not allocated

Inter state

Retailer 14 22 37 75 348 70 3 555

Retailer 16 39 15 143 104 49 4 354

Retailer 12 13 70 15 46 150 6 300

Distributor 2

209

209

Retailer 5 4 7 40 43 66

160

Distributor 4

140

140

Retailer 15 6 14 19 60 21 3 123

Distributor 1

107

107

Retailer 19 4 7 28 37 6 1 83

Retailer 18 2 7 19 25 9 2 64

Retailer 1 5 8 15 21 6

55

Retailer 17 2 6 4 26 12 1 51

Distributor 3

49

49

Retailer 7 2 9 7 18 7

43

Retailer 8 2

18 21 1

42

Retailer 3 3 3 14 4 10

34

Retailer 4

4 7 17 3

31

Not allocated

2 1 2 3 13 2 23

Retailer 2

3 13 1

17

Distributor 5 14

14

Retailer 9

2

2

Retailer 11 2

2

Total 120 296 457 927 623 33 2 2,458

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Table 2: Case Registration Snapshot - Solar Cases

Provider

Distribution area

Total Distributor 5

Distributor 1

Distributor 3

Distributor 4

Distributor 2

Not allocated

Interstate

Retailer 14 21 113 270 583 85 8 1 1,081

Retailer 16 12 29 214 108 59 8 3 433

Retailer 12 3 75 50 95 139 2 364

Retailer 5 2 7 53 42 48

152

Retailer 15

19 48 57 21 1 146

Retailer 18 6 7 42 53 19 4 131

Not allocated

3 13 32 27 17 34 1 127

Retailer 17

6 35 63 5

109

Retailer 7 1 4 33 44 14

96

Retailer 19

3 32 40 16 2 93

Retailer 8

9 29 40 14

92

Retailer 1 1 7 16 27 12

63

Retailer 3

10 12 21 11

54

Distributor 4

51

51

Retailer 2

3 1 16 9 1 30

Distributor 2

28

28

Distributor 3

15

15

Retailer 10

2 8

10

Retailer 4

6 2 1

9

Retailer 11

2

2

Distributor 5 1

1

Total 50 305 890 1,279 498 60 5 3,087

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PUTTING THIS REPORT IN CONTEXT

The following criteria need to be taken into account when reviewing this report. EWOV’s analysis is limited by its scope

EWOV only examines the cases it receives. For example, EWOV is not always privy to the number of solar customers a retailer may service during and prior to this reporting period. Also, EWOV does not know about the efficiency of each retailer’s internal complaint management procedures. This affects EWOV’s ability to analyse trends and examine the ‘bigger picture’ cause of complaints. Most cases are Referred complaints

This report is based on data taken from enquiries and complaints. Complaints are categorised as either Unassisted Referrals, Assisted Referrals, Real Time Resolutions or Investigations. Please refer to the glossary on page 18 for definitions. EWOV does not investigate Referred Complaints and is limited to hearing only the customer’s ‘side of the story’.

Customers sometimes recontact EWOV

Customers sometimes recontact EWOV after previously being referred back to their company because their concerns remain unresolved. This can result in EWOV registering an Assisted Referral after a previous Unassisted Referral, or registering an Investigation if the matter remained unresolved after an Assisted Referral. Customers may have complaints relating to more than one issue

Based on the customer’s statement, EWOV sometimes registers two issues for the one case – for example, estimated billing and the PFiT not being applied to an account. EWOV staff register cases by fuel (electricity, gas, LPG or water) and case type (enquiry and complaint). Also, a customer may have issues with two different companies at the same time.

Real Time Resolution cases

EWOV notes that case numbers have changed from those previously reported in Updates. This is a result of a new reporting methodology. From 1 July 2013, EWOV has started separately reporting Real Time Resolution cases in public reporting. As noted in the Glossary on page 18, when an Assisted Referral fails and a customer recontacts EWOV, the Real Time Resolution Team attempts to resolve the complaint again - within 24 hours.

Page 18: Solar and Smart Meter Update - EWOV · 9 Energy and Water Ombudsman (Victoria) Ltd ABN 57 070 516 175 EWOV Solar and Smart Meter Update - 1 October 2013 to 31 December 2013 2.5. Smart

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Energy and Water Ombudsman (Victoria) Ltd

ABN 57 070 516 175

EWOV Solar and Smart Meter Update - 1 October 2013 to 31 December 2013

GLOSSARY

Complaint

A complaint is an expression of dissatisfaction regarding a policy, practice or customer service performance of an energy or water company which is part of the EWOV scheme, where a response or resolution is explicitly or implicitly expected. Enquiry

An enquiry is a customer's request for general information (e.g. about the Smart Meter rollout). This information may be provided by EWOV or the customer may be referred to another agency. Referred Complaint

EWOV does not know the outcome of these referred complaints, except where the referral does not resolve the issue for the customer and they come back to us. There are two types of referred complaints:

Unassisted Referral - where a customer has not yet spoken with their company about their complaint and they are referred back to the company’s contact centre.

Assisted Referral - where a customer has spoken with someone at their company’s contact centre about their complaint, but it remains unresolved and the matter is referred to a higher level complaint resolution officer at the company.

Real Time Resolution

EWOV's Real Time Resolution Team receives failed Assisted Referral calls from customers and then works to negotiate a fair and reasonable resolution of the complaint – all within a one-call approach.

Investigation

A complaint for investigation is registered where: an Assisted Referral or Real Time Resolution case has failed, as the matter remains

unresolved, and the customer has recontacted EWOV, or the matter is complex and unlikely to be resolved as an Assisted Referral or by Real

Time Resolution, or the provider has requested an escalation to an Investigation.

Not allocated

This case type is registered when a customer tells EWOV about their concern but it does not involve a Scheme Participant, or the customer does not know or tell us the company's name.